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FiberNet Advisory Board Minutes 10-11-2011MINUTES FIBERNET MONTICELLO ADVISORY BOARD MEETING Tuesday, October 11, 2011— 6 p.m. FiberNet Customer Service Office Present: Clint Herbst, Glen Posusta, Dennis Sullivan, Jon Morphew, Wayne Mayer Absent: None Other: Jeff O'Neill, Ben Ranft (HBC), Paul Puffin, Bob Paschke, Lynne Dahl - Fleming, Jason Kallevig 1. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 6 p.m. by Chair Clint Herbst. 2. Additions • Question from Monticello Downtown Business Association (MDBA) - Lynn Dahl- Fleming 3. Consideration of Approval of Meeting Minutes — Sept 13, 2011 DENNIS SULLIVAN MOVED TO APPROVE THE SEPTEMBER 13, 2011 MEETING MINUTES AS PRESENTED. GLEN POSUSTA SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED 3 -0. (Not present: Wayne Mayer and Jon Morphew) 4. Marketing Report (Michele H) — report by Ben • Marketing update — Billboard proof is ready and being reviewed by Ben Ranft. • Utility Bills — promotion inserted with bills. • Newsletter — insert for FiberNet will be included in next city newsletter. 5. Operations /Financial Report — General Manager • Update on past due accounts — Customer Service Representatives take care of calling these customers. • Plant Manager Position Update — Interviewing will start Monday with a decision expected by Wednesday. Current staff to cover in the interim. • Residential installations — Waiting on some supplies that were backordered that are needed to complete some drops. a) Install Techs Update — Interviews are completed and will be hiring two of them. b) Apartments — Some need to have power run to entry point of buildings. • Commercial installations - Internet and Phone a) Brett DesMarais Report (Brett absent) — Ben Ranft said there a number of businesses on FiberNet now and Brett is working with quite a few others. 1 FiberNet Advisory Board Minutes — October 11, 2011 • Surveillance and Web Camera development — FNM head -end will be headquarters for security server equipment for city facilities. City staff will be looking at proposal for cameras in buildings and equipment for head -end. This could be start of a system that could be replicated for private businesses. Ben explained that Council did not approve purchasing cameras for parks; however, Xcel Energy has donated money for Swan Park camera and equipment. Jeff O'Neill also mentioned the future potential for using portable cameras for law enforcement and other areas. • Promotions - Ben Ranft would like to reinstate the contract buyout promo; he thinks there is a lot of potential to attract more customers with better marketing. Glen Posusta expressed his concern with how that would work. Ben Ranft explained that there is a limit to the amount of the buyout based on the packages that they would be purchasing. (Wayne Mayer arrived at 6:36 p.m.) 6. Status Report /Discussion — Rollout strategy for MonticelloAir — Ben Ranft Ben Ranft noted that there is some interest in MonticelloAir outside of the city limits. Customers in these areas that have wireless have been promised l OMB or more but are lucky to get 2 -3MB. Have met with some area governments to discuss MonticelloAir. a) Wireless Install /Sales Idea — FNM was contacted by an area business to see if there would be any opportunity to do installs for Monticello Air; they previously did installs for another company but cancelled the contract due to poor customer service. Ben Ranft noted that they sell the product and have the experience working with wireless. Clint Herbst stated he thinks it would be a good idea to have an experienced company do the installs rather than trying to distribute the workload to FNM techs. Dennis Sullivan noted that there is also a satellite TV business in Monticello that does wireless installations. Ben Ranft explained that this business also does installs for a competitor, and Ben would be worried which company would be chosen for installs. Jason Kallevig asked about the Monticello Air product. At this time, they are testing the product. Ben Ranft talked about some options for delivering wireless with the equipment that has been set up. b) Tower Lease - Jeff O'Neill explained history of not using water towers for siting antennas and other equipment on a lease basis. Realizing that this could be a revenue generator, the City is now considering leasing space on the water towers. With FNM's plans to utilize the water tower to place wireless antennas on the towers, it should probably set up a lease between the water fund and FNM. Jeff O'Neill recommended that there be a 2 year trial basis before a lease is put into place and the water fund receives payment. FiberNet Advisory Board Minutes — October 11, 2011 Jeff O'Neill also brought up how to handle providing access to the water tower. Since two people are required to be present, FNM would contact the Water Department to bring the key and assist with access. 7. Project Reports • Eligible Telecommunication Carrier Update and consideration of continuing effort to gain ETC status — Jeff O'Neill reported that the ETC fling was completed with MN Public Utility Commission. Amended application now includes the entire exchange area. City staff will continue to work on the application. 8. Other • Lynne Dahl - Fleming said that a member of the MDBA found a link on the Freedom Foundation website to a City financial report for 2nd quarter 2011, which indicated a somewhat unfavorable projection for FNM. Jeff O'Neill stated that he talked to the person from the Freedom Foundation and noted that the organization is mainly a watchdog of public entities. The author did include some comments from the City but the article does not explain the reason for the cash flow problem. Jeff O'Neill went on to explain how the lawsuit delay greatly impacted the ability of the City to get the project moving which resulted in unexpected costs. In the time delay, there were changes in the market and technology which also impacted cash flow. Jeff O'Neill noted that the community has gained a lot of benefit in savings with lower telecommunication costs throughout the city due to the competition brought by FNM. Glen Posusta stated that the City has not spent taxpayer money and does not plan to levy taxes to support FNM. • Jeff O'Neill shared information from an article in the Star Tribune that talked about the move toward more wireless communications to gain mobility. Paul Ruffin noted that the move to wireless will depend on the nature of the product and building the service off a fiber backbone. 9. Adjourn JON MORPHEW MOVED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 7:18 P.M. WAYNE MAYER SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED 5 -0. Recorder: Cathy Shuman dM4 Approved: November 15, 2011 Attest: ,61ty)6Kninistrator y FiberNet Advisory Board Minutes — October 11, 2011